1989 - 2024 LOTS OF TALK & STUDIES BUT SO VERY LITTLE ACTUAL CLEANUP IN ELMIRA

 

Some pits and ponds were emptied and backfilled in the 1980s BEFORE the announcement of NDMA in Elmira's drinking wells. I believe that our authorities were not at all taken by surprise but were fully cognizant that they had contaminated Elmira's drinking wells long before November 1989. In fact I fully expect that the lying sh**s knew that they had contaminated both the north wellfield (E2, E5, E8 etc.) as well as the south wellfield (E7, E9) probably no later than 1979.

On-site cleanup since the start of the Elmira Water Crisis in November 1989 has not been zero. In  late1993 a few DNAPLS were removed from TPW-2 and RPW-5 and put  into the Mausoleum or Envirodome along with the contents of RPE4 & 5. Then in 1999 the Mausoleum was emptied and the contents trucked to Corunna near Sarnia for burial in an alleged, secure hazardous waste site. Later on a few more DNAPLS were inadvertently found near RPE-3 and removed. There was also some excavations of creekbanks and part of an island in Canagagigue Creek in the early 2000s. I believe that there may have been some relatively minor further creekbank excavations on the north-west side of the Creek as well . 

The problem with both the excavations in the 1980s as well as the 1993 excavations is that only visible surface wastes were removed. Jeff Merriman, a Uniroyal Chemical engineer, bragged to UPAC & CPAC that excavations stopped when they could no longer see or smell the contamination. Not exactly a serious scientific analysis especially considering the known leakage through the bottom of the pits  (3,400 litres per day on the west side alone) according to CH2M HILL , consultants to the Region of Waterloo.

Now today in September 2024 Lanxess want us to believe that they are serious about doing remediation that could have and should have been done 25 or 35 years ago.  They will also likely claim that the remediation today is so much better than it used to be. Really?  Dr. Richard Jackson (TAG Chair) advised TAG and the public in late 2016 that there were no "magic bullets" i.e. new cleanup methods.  Perhaps some of the numerous remediation methods have been fine tuned, chemical amendments added etc. . That in itself would be great but are we going to trust the professional liars (Lanxess & the MECP) to be in charge of that cleanup after the mess they have made together for the past 35 years? Secondly will they only cleanup the off-site Elmira Aquifers or will they actually clean up as well the former Uniroyal site itself to ensure that down the road negligence doesn't re-contaminate the Elmira Aquifers?

Or perhaps Lanxess and the Ministry (MECP) just want to talk about new remediation methods for the next 35 years. Talk alone is cheaper especially if you ignore the value of the environment and the lives of human beings and wildlife.